Golf is becoming an increasingly popular sport around the world. It can often be difficult, however, for various reasons for players to find a golf course where they can play. Also, a conventional round of golf takes at least several hours to play which can be prohibitive for many players. For these reasons, many people attend golf practice ranges to practice their golf shots without playing an actual round of golf. Hitting golf shots at a practice range can become monotonous, however, and there is a desire to incorporate a game into the practice routine.
Various forms of games played at golf ranges are known. Examples of such games are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,851,423 (Ely) and 2,248,053 (Bales) and in Japanese Patent 06-182011 (Buruusu). In each of these games, players hit golf balls from a tee area to a range area. The range area is adapted in various ways to facilitate the playing of a game.
In the Ely patent, the range area is divided into spaced transverse rows which are marked to indicate distances from the tee area. A number of target greens are located at various distances and positions about the range area. The Ely patent teaches a game where a player hits a golf ball toward the farthest target green and observes where it lands. If the ball lands on the green, the player determines how far the ball is from the pin (with the aid of concentric circles marked on the green) and the player then moves to a putting green (located behind the tee area) to attempt to sink a putt from a distance equivalent to the observed distance. If the player's drive does not reach the farthest green, the player determines how far the ball is from the pin (with the aid of the rows of distance markings). The player then hits another ball towards a target green that is located at a distance from the tee that approximates the observed distance for the player's first shot. The player continues until the ball reaches a target green and then he putts out at the putting green as described above.
The Bales and Buruusu patents each teach modified range areas that are divided into a grid pattern made up of spaced rows and columns. The rows are positioned at clearly marked distances from the tee area. The columns intersect the rows and define three areas corresponding to a fairway, a rough area and an out-of-bounds area similar to an actual golf course. A player is given a scorechart containing conventional distance markings for each hole of an 18 hole course. The player then utilizes the distance markings and grid pattern of the range area to play a modified form of an actual golf game. For instance, for a par 4 hole of 375 yards, the player attempts to hit a drive as close to the full 375 yards as possible within the fairway. If the player observes the ball landing in the 200 yard grid of the fairway, he knows that his next shot should be for the 175 yard grid to equate to landing his ball on the green. If the player drives into the rough portion of the fairway, he is assessed a distance penalty, and if the player drives out of bounds, he is assessed a stroke penalty. Optional chipping areas and putting greens are also contemplated for completing the hole.
While the above-described games permit a modified form of golf to be played at a range area, they are relatively complicated to play. Also, the games do not provide an optimum means for scoring that allows for healthy competition between players. Moreover, the known games do not satisfactorily measure and reward a player's accuracy in driving and chipping or promote the development of the skills that yield accuracy. The known games also do not facilitate imitation of a variety of different courses, whose fairways may feature not only a variety of different overall distances, but also a variety of different layouts, hazards and obstacles that require the golfer to combine different combinations of long, short and medium drives to get from the tee to the green of each hole.
The object of the present invention is to provide an alternative golf range game that is simple to play and incorporates a straightforward scoring system so that players may compete against each other to increase their enjoyment, and that promotes development of the players' golfing skills to achieve accuracy in driving and chipping as well as distance.